Election Day
by Ray The French AusHun Shipper
Summary: Preston High, Idaho, is the epitome of monotony. A school inhabited by raunchy jocks, beauty queens, shunned intellectuals and social outcasts, tenuously united under the unremarkable Pedro Sanchez. A typical American Midwest school- at least, until the devoted Misaki Ayuzawa comes into the pictures. Well, that's what she hopes, anyway.


Napoleon never thought that anyone, least of all anyone from somewhere on the opposite side of the world, would ever want to come to this drab town in Idaho. Rural people in straw hats, rusty campervans and grass, grass and more grass as far as the eye could see- that, at least to him, would send him running away faster than the stereotypical horses in the background. Sure, some tourists occasionally visited this monotonous part of the United States, but they were curious, superfluous, even condescending at times, taking time to snap a few shots of one of the millions of mountains on the horizon and desperately tried to force themselves to see the non-existent beauty of the lethargic lifestyle to be found in here. Satisfied- at least with their blurry photos and five-cent souvenirs- they would clamber into a bus, wave a goodbye, complete with smiles, and promptly fall asleep for the next five hours before being rudely awakened at the next stop to do the exact same thing. Such was the reality of the provincial lifestyle, and everyone with half a brain, whether in the town or elsewhere, could see that. Everyone except for the two transfer students standing at the front of the classroom.

"Class!" the teacher boomed, his voice unpleasantly loud. A haze of noise sprang up, created by the sounds of twenty-odd students unenthusiastically pulling themselves up. Some had to be shaken awake. The only one in the class who remained unchanged was Napoleon. Ligers wouldn't draw themselves.

"Alright. I would like you to meet our two new transfer students, Misaki Ayuzawa and Usui Takumi." the teacher began politely. Don yawned. "Please introduce yourselves to us."  
"My name is Misaki Ayuzawa. I have studied in Japan, but my family have moved to America just three weeks ago. I look forward to successful career here at Preston High." Misaki said, her sentences in rapid succession. When she had finished, she gave a polite bow.  
"Here in America, you do not need to do that, Ms. Ayu-ayuwhatagain?"  
"Ms. Ayuzawa. And thank you for your consideration, Sir." Misaki replied.  
"Mr. Takumi, will you please introduce yourself?"  
"Name's Usui Takumi. Same age as her. Same school. That's all." Usui said, casually leaning back on the blackboard. From her desk in the middle of the room, Summer tugged at the sleeve of the girl beside her. Mischievously grinning, Summer made a fanning motion with her hand.

"Major. Hottie." Summer quietly squealed.  
"You there!" Misaki cried, pointing to the blonde girl. "Do not talk when the teacher is speaking!"

Aghast, Summer mouth dropped open and she gasped.

"Ex-cuse me?" Summer flashed.  
"Do not speak when the teacher is talking!" Misaki growled.  
"Ah, you haven't changed at all." Usui mused.  
"And who are you? Queen of the school? For your information, I am the head of the school, and I do whatever I want. Got that?"  
"Actually, I technically am, I'm the Student Council president-" came the timid voice of Pedro from behind her.  
"Well, whatever. I'm still the Vice President, so I rank higher than you, bitch." Summer said, making a gesture with her hand.  
"That's quite enough. Usui, Misaki, please go to your seats." the teacher said with a wave of his hand. Smugly, Summer grinned at Misaki.  
"Remember, Misa-chan?" Usui teased. "You're not the President anymore. You're at the bottom again." Usui laughed. "And there's no other way but up."  
"Shut up!" Misaki snapped.

At the front of the class, the teacher was busy writing a series of diagrams on the blackboard. At the last row of seats, Napoleon was busy adding the final pieces of shading to his liger's tail.

"Hey, Napoleon." Pedro whispered. "The new girl's pretty, isn't she?"  
"Shut up!" Napoleon groaned as he finished outlining a stripe. "Can't you see I'm busy?!"  
"Yes or no?" Pedro quipped, grinning cheekily.  
"Shut _up_!" Napoleon retorted, his voice noticeably louder. A silence came over the classroom as everyone, including the teacher, looked in Napoleon's direction. Then, once they had given up, they returned to their activities, Misaki being possibly the only person in the room actually interested in the lecture. Returning to his drawing, Napoleon sighed.  
"Thanks a lot, Pedro." Napoleon growled.

Minutes later, the shrill voice of Misaki reverberated once more through the halls of the classroom.

"What do YOU think you're doing?!" Misaki screamed, grabbing Napoleon's liger drawing and pencil in one flowing move. To the shock of the entire class, Napoleon soon found his neck pressed against the back of his chair, Misaki's fingernails sinking into his neck.  
"What do you think you're DOING?" Napoleon cried. "Let me go!"  
"Do not draw things in class! Pay attention!" Misaki screamed. From beside her, Usui watched, slightly amused.  
"Get off him, Misaki. Now!" the teacher snapped. Angrily, Misaki loosened her grip, throwing him onto the floor. From the middle of the class, Don looked on incredulously, his jaw wide open. Misaki strode towards the teacher, bowed, and presented the drawing of the liger. Observing the picture, the teacher nodded somewhat approvingly, then addressed the two of them.

"Napoleon, this is certainly...very unique. I do not think I have ever seen a creature, shall we say, quite like this..."  
"It's a liger, what do you think?" Napoleon demanded, Misaki speechless at his blatant insolence.  
"Yes, yes. I quite like it."  
"Oh?" Napoleon asked, a weak smile flashing on his face. "Do you like the hair? I spend most of the lecture on... the bit on the wavy graph thing..."  
"The sine wave?"  
"Yeah, I spend most of that time shading it."  
"It's very good, Napoleon. I can find no fault with the hair, and I appreciate the effort you have put into shading it." the teacher said, opening a drawer and filing the piece in. "But you come to school to learn, not to draw pictures and daydream."

Condescendingly smiling, the teacher dismissed Misaki to her desk.

"And so, I will see you after school for thirty minutes. Both of you."

Mortified, Misaki gasped.

"B-Both?! But it was he who was drawing the- the- whatever it was!" Misaki protested.  
"It's a liger. Gosh!" Napoleon retorted.  
"Yes, I know. But that does not excuse your behavior, Misaki. I do not know what you do back in Japan, but here in America, we do not physically assault anyone under _any _circumstances. Am I understood?"

The girl was left speechless. If she had been the one suspected of drawing in class, she could have argued all lesson, vehemently explaining why she was not at fault. If someone beside her had spoken, her domineering personality would have forced the guilty party to admit. But this time was different. She had choked Napoleon, and she could not blame anyone for it. Twenty-something other teenagers in the room saw her. There was no point, moral or selfish, in lying. There was only one person to blame, one person whose volatile temper had finally gotten the better of them. And that was her.

Resignedly smiling, Usui placed his hand on his face and continued with the exercise.

"Y-Yes, sir." Misaki mumbled, sitting down to continue working.

About three minutes later, she felt a small force pulling her shirt.

"What now, Usui?" Misaki snapped. Usui said nothing, his grin rendering anything he could have said unnecessary.  
"What do you want?"  
"Well, you've messed up. No friends, and at least two enemies and counting, plus a teacher with a... tarnished first impression of you."

Flustered, Misaki glared at him, distressed by his straightforwardness yet unable to deny the truth of what he said.

"Well, at least something good came out of this." Usui leered.  
"What?" Misaki grunted.  
"Well, whenever you're stressed, your face goes red. It's cute." Usui smiled, playfully pinching her cheek. Growling, Misaki slapped his hand away.  
"Stop it!" she cried.  
"Usui, detention with Misaki and Napoleon after school. I've had enough distractions for today." the teacher said. Seemingly unconcerned, Usui reclined on his chair and continued with the exercise.

"See you in detention...maid."


End file.
